Suite 201, Block 2, North Building,
Haidian District
Beijing, China 10010
Nov 13, 2018
New Jersey Department of Transportation
David J. Goldberg Transportation Complex
1035 Parkway Avenue Trenton,
NJ 08625
Dear Mr. Steve,
I am Boqi Du. This would be my last year at Rutgers. I am from Beijing, a beautiful city as well as the capital of China. My major is sport management. There are only very few of Chinese learning this major. The reason why I want to choose sport as my future career is that the sport industry in China has a lot of potentials. Recently, many people are complaining that it is extremely difficult for them to go to work or school on time due to severe traffic congestion in the U.S.
As a student, I have exactly the same problem. I try to get up early but I tend to be late for my lectures due to traffic jams. In fact, according to the report published by Business Insider, U.S is ranked as the most-congested country in the world. Drivers in the U.S would actually spend more than 40 hours a year stuck in traffic. As such, many potential business activities will be potentially delayed. It will lead to poor supply chain management and result in a high degree of economic loss. Besides, The total taxi or other vehicles mileage are increased by 35% from 2013 to 2018. The number of unoccupied taxis are also increasing. It is important to reduce this waste of resource in order to promote environmental sustainability.
In order to mitigate this problem, evaluation survey would be conducted among different social groups. It would be qualitative as the main purpose to elicit attitude responses from target groups with respect to the app-based carpool system. It is less costly and possible for us to figure out how respondents feel about the new transportation model. Besides, quantitative research should also be conducted to measure about the vehicle’s passing rate during peak hmys. Observers would be asked to measure the frequency of vehicles passing on several roads before and after introducing the app-based carpool software. If the recorded frequency has dropped significantly, it means that car sharing provides a highly effective solution to traffic congestion.
Before closing, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for reading this proposal. I believe that major information presented in this plan would be of great concern to you as you are a supporter of sustainable transportation and finding solution to traffic congestion. For more information, we would like to invite you to
join my presentation on 20 Oct 2018. If you have any additional questions, you can contact me at 1234567. My work email address is 1234567@hotmail.com.
Submitted by: XXX
Submitted to: Robinson Steve
New Jersey Department of Transportation
David J. Goldberg Transportation Complex
1035 Parkway Avenue Trenton,
NJ 08625
Prepared for:
XXX (你们老师)
Scientific and Technical Writing 302:V1 SU18
Completed: Nov 13,2018
This proposal is focused on finding a practical solution to address the problem of traffic congestion and meanwhile promote sustainable transportation in New Jersey. So far Rutgers university, New Jersey and many other major cities of the U.S are facing certain degree of car congestion. It creates tremendous inconvenience for people when they are going to their respective destinations. At present, many researchers have noticed that there are many vacant seats in vehicles on the streets. It leads to a significant waste of resources and makes traffic system burdened with excessive number of traffic tools. This proposal aims to address both problems by introducing app-based car-sharing models to alleviate traffic congestion and promote sustainability. Based on a systematic and comprehensive literature review, Ru’s solutions have been proposed to resolve the car congestion and sustainable transportation problems. The proposed models will also be discussed and evaluated before commercializing. The carsharing model will be first introduced in Rutgers University and then extend to News Jersey and other cities.
Key words: Carpool, Car-sharing, College students, Sustainable transportation, Car Congestion
Abstract.........................................................................................................................................................................................................1
Table of Figures............................................................................................................................................................................................1
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................................................................2
Chapter I: Introduction ..............................................................................................................................................................................3
Congestion in the U.S.....................................................................................................................................................................................3
Congestion in New Jersey...............................................................................................................................................................................3
Congestion in Colleges and schools...............................................................................................................................................................4
Congestion in Rutgers university....................................................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion......................................................................................................................................................................................................4
Chapter II: Literature Review.....................................................................................................................................................................5
Introduction....................................................................................................................................................................................................5
Theory 1 – Car-sharing system to address car-congestion........................................................................................................................5
Model 1 – Car Sharing Portland Scheme (CSP).............................................................................................................................................5
Model 2 – App-based Car-sharing .................................................................................................................................................................6
Model 3 – Direct Mapping..............................................................................................................................................................................6
Theory 2 – Car-sharing to promote environmental sustainability...........................................................................................................6
Model 1 – Smart Mobility...............................................................................................................................................................................6
Model 2 – Sustainable transportation options...............................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................................................................................7
Chapter III: Ru’s Solution.........................................................................................................................................................................7
Chapter IV: Plan of Action........................................................................................................................................................................8
Introduction....................................................................................................................................................................................................8
Business Canvas............................................................................................................................................................................................9
Organizational Structure.............................................................................................................................................................................10
Chapter V: Budget for Plan.....................................................................................................................................................................11
Chapter VI: Discussion............................................................................................................................................................................12
Reference...................................................................................................................................................................................................12
Appendix....................................................................................................................................................................................................13
Miscellaneous.............................................................................................................................................................................................15
Table 1 - Membership Application and Usage Fee................................................................5
Table 2 - Business Canvas........................................................................................................5
Table 3 - Organization Structure and Job Scopes.................................................................6
Table 4 - Budget Plan...............................................................................................................7
The monograph of this business proposal aims to reduce car-congestion and promote sustainable transportation in Rutgers University and then hopefully extend to the whole NJ city. Car-sharing is not a new concept so I decide to introduce electric vehicles into the picture. It is widely known that conventional vehicles are powered by gasoline, a non-renewable resource. Gasoline and many other kinds of fossil fuels are depleting very fast and may lead to various environmental problems such as release of GHGs, air pollution and so on. Therefore, it is necessary and essential to introduce new models to address these problems.
This business proposal includes five parts, namely, introduction, literature review, Ru’s solution, action plan, budget plan and discussion. In the introductory section, problems at national, municipal and campus level will be identified respectively. At national level, it is seems that no only NJ but many other major U.S cities are facing the problem of car congestion as well. Some cities even restrict cars from other cities to enter. However, it is obvious that these measures will not be effective in reducing car congestion. In NJ, the car-congestion has generated a huge degree of economic loss. At campus and school level, car congestion may not only make students late for school but also lead to many undesired outcomes such as safety issues. To address these problems work as a research motivation for this business proposal.
Moreover, various literature has also been critically reviewed in Chapter II. To conduct literature review is to prove that car-sharing will effectively reduce car congestion and promote sustainable transportation. Besides, existing car-model will be critically evaluated. These models will provide insights to my proposed model.
In Chapter III, Ru’s solution will be proposed on the basis of the existing models. In this proposal, a 4-step car-sharing model will be introduced to achieve my objectives. The membership application and service charges are also listed in details.
In Chapter IV, action plan is proposed in details based on Business Canvas model. Business Canvas is a sophisticated model for people to start up business. All the nine building blocks have been comprehensively evaluated. Organizational structure has also been proposed in this section. I believe that effective organizational structure is the cornerstone of the business success.
In Chapter V, a budget plan is being provided accordingly. Even though it is difficult to estimate the overall budget accurately and precisely, the major profit prediction and cost are listed clearly in this section.
The last the concluding chapter. Anticipated outcome of this business proposal has been discussed. In addition, this proposal also points out the future application of Ru’s solution in a wider context. For instance, the proposed EV-based carshing model could be extended to other universities and perhaps the city as a whole. In fact, car-sharing schemes should not only be limited to conventional cars, EVs, driverless cars should also be taken into picture. Universities should set themselves as a role model to commercialize new ideas and concepts so other industries or organizations will follow suit.
According to the report recently published by Business Insider, the U.S is ranked as the most-congested country in the world(Winship, para1). Drivers will spend very long duration in traffic especially during peak hours. In fact, urban mobility is closely related to a country’s e economic activities. If trucks, for instance, are delayed during transportation processes, the delivery of freights will not be arrived at time. The economic loss generated will be very astonishing.
Generally speaking, it is indisputable that car congestion will lead to a high degree of inconvenience and economic loss for all parties. However, it is also undeniable that this problem is very difficult to be resolved. Some municipal governments even consider to restrict vehicles from other cities to enter (Winship, para5) to protect local traffic system. But in my opinion, it is ridiculous to do so. Many people from other cities or areas may come to the city for traveling or business purposes. These measures will actually lead to more economic loss.
Moreover, the UN has released sustainable development goals which are expected to be attained by 2030. one of the SDGs is to promote environmental sustainability. One potential problem of the gasoline-powered vehicles is that it will generate a large portion of GHGs which lead to global warming. In addition, fossil fuel is also not a sustainable energy type. It is depleting very fast. Incomplete combustion may further lead to air pollution and other undesired outcomes. In other words, alternative energy source or new sustainable traffic tools should be introduced in the near future. Also, there are many vacant seats when people are traveling by their cars. These vacancies should be considered as a wastage of resources. If the vacancies are well reduced, passengers will not only save money from the pocket but also the environmental sustainability will be promoted as well.
Initially, I have made an observation on my own campus. Everyday I feel very disturbed about the car congestion. It makes me delayed for my lecture. I believe that I am not the only who is facing the same problem. So I feel that it is urgent to find a practical solution to address this problem. It is also the motivation to make this business proposal. Before going straight to introduce my proposed solution, it is important to discuss the problem at national, municipal and campus level.
Congestion in the U.S
In the same report, Drivers in the U.S have been discovered to spend more than 40 hmys a year stuck in traffic(Winship, para1). It is just an average number. Drivers from Los Angeles, for instance, will spend over 100 hours in traffic (Winship, para5). It reflects that in the U.S, many people are wasting their precious time on road. Economic activities and people’s daily activities would be adversely affected. Moreover, people have to go to work, go to schools or run business activities during about the same hmys. As long as this situation is not changed, car congestion problem would still exist. It is very much like a mobility problem. However, in the U.S, more people are inclined to use their private vehicles as the major traffic tools instead of public transits. It is largely because Americans are living in low-density areas. Public transport could not carry them to their destinations. Moreover, private vehicles are more comfortable and convenient for them. As such, blindly recommending public transit is not a viable option for resolving car congestion problem in the U.S. Instead, there is a need to effectively reduce the vacant seats of the private cars in order to promote effective car rides and sustainable transportation.
Congestion in New Jewsey
In New Jewsey, the taxi trips are increased by 15% in 2018(Schaller, p1). The total taxi or other vehicles mileage are increased by 35% from 2013 to 2018. in the NJ transportation system. Moreover, New Jersey wastes more than 52 hours stuck in traffic(NJDOT, 2008). The annual economic loss due to traffic congestion is about $1,470 per licensed driver. New Jersey’s economic competitiveness is only ranked 43rd place largely attributed to its severe car congestion problems. In addition, the number of unoccupied taxi or other vehicles are increased by almost 80%. It shows a significant waste of resources. However, on the other hand, it shows that New Jersey has a huge potential to adopt car-sharing or ride-sharing models to effectively reduce this great waste of resources and reduce car-congestion.
Congestion in Colleges and schools
School-related traffic congestion problem is getting more and more severe in the U.S. it would create very tremendous safety problem to school-aged children and college students(La Vigne,2007). The major source of problems is certainly private vehicles. Parents tend to drop off or pick up children through vehicles. Even in colleges, private cars have gradually become a highly preferred option among lecturers and students. Car congestion would not only cause great inconvenience to drivers but also lead to safety problems and even road rage.
Congestion in Rutgers university
Currently, Rutgers University is also experiencing the same problem. There is reported late for lectures among students and several car accidents this year. This problem is largely attributed to inexperienced college student drivers. As the parking lots in the university is quite limited, many students are competing for parking lots. In fact, very few of them are willing to park their cars in remote parking lots. These competition often leads to the problem of road rage, which is also a major source of car accidents.
Conclusion
Ultimately, there is an immediate problem of traffic congestion in Rutgers University and New Jersey. At the same time, the great waste of resources as such vacant seats will hinder the effort of achieving sustainable transportation in NJ. In fact, car-sharing is never a new concept. However, the novelty of my proposal is that electrical vehicles have been taking into the picture. So far, not many cities or universities have fully implemented as EV-based carsharing scheme. In my opinion, universities should first take the responsibility to apply new technologies and set as a role model to the whole city. in the long-run, the RU’s carsharing should not be limited to EVs but also extent to driverless cars. It is believed that the problem of car-congestion and sustainability will be effectively addressed. In order to address the two above-mentioned problems, previous studies, papers and models should be closely reviewed in order to figure out insights to guide the direction of this project. Many areas of previous studies have been critically reviewed. For instance, it is necessary to verify the link between car-sharing and car congestion. In fact, before conducting the research, I am not very very sure that car-sharing will reduce car-congestion at the first place. It is because it is not very clear that car owners will easily switch to shared vehicles as they have already paid for their cars. How they could be persuaded to use my service. In addition,